Month: March 2018

A healthy, protein rich option to the dosa is this Black, Green and Bengal Gram Dosa. No fermentation process involved, though it needs to be soaked for a good 5-6 hours to facilitate grinding. It can be enjoyed with home made butter as it is spiced up with Green chillies and ginger. I love mine with chutney which has not been seasoned or with pickle.

Ingredients :

200 gms Urad dal/black gram dal

250 gms Moong dal/Green gram dal

250 gms Chana dal/Bengal Gram Dal

18 green chillies

3 inch piece of ginger

A Kidney bean sized piece of hing/asafoetida

9 sprigs curry leaves

Salt

Oil or ghee/clarified butter for roasting the dosa.

Method :

Wash and soak the dals for 5-6 hours. Grind them non stop for half an hour in the wet grinder to a smooth batter with water just enough to give you a pouring consistency. Crush green chillies, hing and ginger coarsely and, add to the batter. Chop curry leaves fine. Tip them into the batter along with salt. Mix thoroughly. Heat a tava/skillet. Pour a ladleful of batter and spread it thinly to cover the skillet. Drizzle with oil or ghee. Allow to roast for a couple of minutes and then flip it over. Roast the other side too, to a rich golden brown. Serve with chutney or butter. The recipe for chutney can be found under the catagory, ‘Chutneys’ of this website.

Note: the proportion of green chillies and ginger is for those using the wet grinder. If using a blender or mixer cut them down into exactly half the quantity mentioned above. The batter increases to double the volume when, ground in the wet grinder as compared to the mixer. This dosa is not fermented.

A simple yet delicious accompaniment to Rice or Rotis, the Potato and tomato gozzu is best served at room temperature. A dish which is traditionally served with Kanji/Rice gruel, it can be made by garnishing with or without raw onions.

Ingredients :

2 large potatoes peeled, washed and sliced thinly.

5 medium sized tomatoes chopped into large chunks

5 green chillies minced

Hing/asafoetida

Salt

1 medium sized onion minced

1 tbsp coconut oil

1tsp mustard

1 tsp urad dal/black gram dal

2 sprigs curry leaves

Method :

Cook the potato and tomato together. After it is done, discard the peel of the Tomato and mash the Tomato and potato together. Crush the green chillies, hing and salt and add it along with the finely chopped onion to the gozzu. Heat 1 tbsp oil. Add a spoon of mustard and after it splutters add a spoon of urad dal. Toss till it is golden brown. Drop in two sprigs of curry leaves. Toss and season the gozzu with it. Mix well and serve with dal rice or roti.

This Gram flour and vegetable Kadhi goes well with both Rice or Pulao. Though in a Kadhi vegetables of choice are used, I prefer making one with potato, carrot and drumstick. One can even eat it as a soup.

Ingredients :

1 carrot

2 potatoes

1 drumstick

100 gms Besan/Gram Flour/Chickpea flour

2 tbsps ghee/clarified butter

5 tbsps oil

2 tsps jeera/Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp methi/Fenugreek seeds

4 sprigs curry leaves

6 green chillies

2 inch piece of ginger

1 tbsp tamarind paste

A pinch of turmeric powder

Method :

Deskin the carrot and potato and wash them thoroughly. Chop lengthwise. Chop the Drumstick into bite sized pieces. Grate the ginger. Slit the green chillies. Cook all the vegetables with salt and keep aside. Heat the oil and ghee mixture. Add the jeera and methi. After the jeera stops crackling drop in the curry leaves, green chillies and ginger. Toss. Add the Besan and roast on a slow flame to a deep golden brown. Add the turmeric powder. Toss. Add the cooked vegetables and pour in as much water as required to make a gravy like consistency. Add the tamarind paste. Adjust salt and boil well. Serve with rice, pulao or as a soup.

Ivygourd Ambat is one of the most delicious amongst the Ambats made by the Konkani community of Mangalore in India. An Ambat is basically a preparation made of a vegetable of choice in a coconut gravy seasoned with onions. One or more vegetables may be used depending upon the family’s preference. Today I have added a couple of drumsticks, Cashews and potatoes along with the ivygourd to enhance the taste.

Ingredients :

200 gms ivygourd

1 large potato

4 onions

A fistful of cashewnuts

1 drumstick

1/4 of a large coconut grated

12 roasted red chillies

1 heaped tsp tamarind paste

100gms toor dal/Pigeon peas

Salt

3 tbsps Coconut oil

Method :

Pressure cook the toor dal. Chop two of the onions very fine. Keep aside. Chop the ivygourd, drumstick, potatoes and the remaining two onions into bite sized pieces and pressure cook to only one whistle along with the cashewnut. Grind the grated coconut, roasted red chillies and tamarind to a fine paste. Drop the cooked dal, vegetables and the ground masala into a pan. Add salt and adjust to a pouring consistency by adding water. Boil well. Heat oil. Add the finely chopped onions and toast to a rich golden brown. Tip the seasoning into the Ambat. Boil and keep aside for half an hour for the flavours to infuse before consuming.

Note: Pressure cook the vegetables to only one whistle as over cooking makes them mushy. Alternatively the open pan method too can be adopted to cook them.

The Beetroot juice that I am posting today is flavoured with lemon, a couple of green chillies and a sprinkling of coriander leaves. Beet on its own is sweet, so addition of fruits only increases the sugar content of the juice.

Ingredients :

2 large Beetroots

2 green chillies or as per taste

Juice of one lemon

Coriander leaves to garnish

Method :

Deskin the Beetroots and wash them thoroughly. Chop them into thin slices and juice them along with the chopped green chillies in a juicer. Tip the pulp into a bowl. Do not use a mixer to juice, as the heat causes the enzymes to break down. Add two glasses of water. Mix thoroughly. Strain. Add lemon juice and finely chopped coriander leaves. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Biscuit Ambado is a Mangalorean delicacy served particularly during breakfast at weddings and religious get togethers. I do gorge on them once in a while as they are simply irresistible. Since it is a deep fried preparation, the healthier option would be Appo made of the same batter in an Appam pan. It is served with a coconut chutney which is flavoured either with Asafoetida or ginger.

Ingredients :

250 gms Urad dal/Black gram dal

3 tbsps rice flour

6 green chillies

A big Chickpea sized piece of Hing /asafoetida

2 inch piece of ginger

8 sprigs of curry leaves

A small fistful of coconut slivers

1/2 tsp pepper ground extremely coarse

Salt

Oil for frying

Method :

Soak the urad dal for five hours. Drain and grind to a smooth thick batter without adding water in the wet grinder. Those of you using the mixer will need to sprinkle a little water to facilitate grinding. Tip into a bowl. Grind the ginger, green chillies and hing coarsely. Add it to the batter along with the coarsely ground pepper, slivers of coconut, salt and finely chopped curry leaves. Add the rice flour and mix thoroughly. Heat oil in a pan. Drop in tiny dumplings of the batter into the hot oil, and fry to a rich golden yellow. Remove, drain on a tissue and serve hot with coconut chutney. You can access the recipe for chutney under the catagory ‘Variety of Chutneys’ of this website.

Note: Always drop in a small dumpling of the batter to check the temperature of the oil. It should rise to the top immediately. If it doesn’t, wait for the oil to heat. Dumplings fried in underheated oil result in greasy Biscuit Ambado.

Chandramandal is a tangy, sweet and spicy chutney which is popularly served at temples in the South. The difference between the Coriander Gozzu made by Mangaloreans and Chandramandal is that ginger is boiled, along with tamarind and jaggery while making the latter. All in all a great accompaniment to Rotis or Rice. Can be served as a dip too.

Ingredients :

A tennis sized ball of tamarind

150 gms jaggery

5 green chilles

2 inch piece of ginger

1tsp mustard

1tbsp ghee/ clarified butter

A small bunch of coriander leaves

2 sprigs of curry leaves

Salt

Method :

Soak the tamarind in hot water and extract pulp. Alternatively you can also use the ready paste that is available. Grate the ginger and chop the green chillies fine. Boil the jaggery, tamarind pulp, ginger and green chillies together till it reaches the consistency of a thick chutney. Heat ghee. Add the mustard. After it splutters add the curry leaves. Drop the seasoning into the Chandramandal . Add finely chopped coriander leaves. Serve when cool.

Onion Fryums or Vodi as they are called in Konkani, are delicious and melt in the mouth. Served as an accompaniment with rice and dal, they can also be enjoyed on their own with a cup of hot coffee or tea. The best part is that they can be made and stored for a year. Made during the summer months, they require to be dried thoroughly in strong sunlight, so that they can be enjoyed throughout the year.

Soak the rice and sabudana for 3 hours. Grind to a smooth paste. Add three glasses of water, salt and chilly powder and cook on a slow flame till it turns translucent. The mixture at this stage thickens. Allow to cool thoroughly. The next morning add the chopped onions, mix well and drop a teaspoon of the mixture in rows on a plastic sheet. Dry in strong sunlight for three to four days. Remove and store in an air tight container. Deep fry as and when required.

Thandai which literally means a coolant, is a drink made during the festivals of Holi and Shivratri. It is milk enriched with dry fruits, saffron and fennel. Traditionally ‘Bhang’ which gives one a ‘high’ is added to the drink. The one I have posted today is without it. It is absolutely delicious!!!

Ingredients :

5 cups milk boiled ( do not use skimmed or low fat milk)

1/2cup powdered sugar

A few strands of saffron

1/4 tsp pepper corns

1/2 cup almonds

2 tbsp khus khus/poppy seeds

2 tbsp saunf/fennel

10 Cardamom pods

A handful of dried rose petals

Fresh rose petals for garnish

Method :
Soak the almonds and peel them. Powder the Cardamom, poppy, fennel, pepper corns and dried rose petals and mix it thoroughly in the milk. Grind the almonds to a fine paste and add them too. Refrigerate for three to four hours and then strain it. Add the sugar and saffron. Mix thoroughly and serve garnished with fresh rose petals.

Puranpoli or Ubbatti is a sweet traditionally prepared on the Full moon during Holi the festival of colours, or on Khojagiri or Sharat Poornima that is the Full moon following Navaratri . Folklore has it that it was prepared to appease the Moon God hence the shape and colour. The Puranpoli is so delicious that it is is well worth the effort that goes into making it. It is best enjoyed with fresh home made ghee/clarified butter.

Ingredients :

250 gms chana dal/Bengal Gram

250gms jaggery

300 gms maida/all purpose flour

15 pods cardamom

5 tsps sugar

3 tbsps oil

3tbsps ghee

A pinch of haldi/turmeric powder

Method :

Take the maida in a bowl. Make a well in it. Add the haldi and the oil and crumble it. Add enough water to make a soft dough. Add the ghee, knead it into the dough and keep it aside for two hours. Powder the Cardamom and sugar and keep it aside. Pressure cook chana dal. Puree it in the mixer. Make a syrup of the jaggery and add it to the pureed chana dal. Boil on a low flame till it starts leaving the sides of the pan. When touched it should not stick to the fingers. Add the Cardamom powder. Mix well and allow to cool. This stuffing is called Puran or churna. Make balls of the Puran. Knead the maida dough for a couple of minutes and make equal number of balls as that of the Puran. Roll the dough into a circle slightly smaller than a poori. Place the ball of Puran, enclose it with the dough and roll out into required size. Heat a tava/ skillet. Dry roast the Puranpoli on both sides to a golden brown. Enjoy with ghee.